Hello, in my haste to beat a rainstorm, I buttoned up the dash without grounding the Parking brake, does anyone know if this will cause problems.

Second, I attempted to change my splash screen, I hooked up my USB key fob with a JPEG (no folders on drive). The 9140 reconizes the USB Drive, but when I go into the setup menu to make the change, all the choices are greyed out and are un-selectable, does anyone know what I did wrong. I have been able to listen to my IPOD, enter Navigation locations and listen to music through the tuner. Any help you guys/gals can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You,

Vinnie
FJ Cruiser

I don't think the ground wire to pakring brake will be a problem, except when you want to watch a movie. That wire has to see ground for a DVD to play.

Hint: The wire does not have to be grounded through the parking brake, you can connect it to any ground source, however watching movies while driving is illegal and dangerous.

I dunno about the splash screen, look through the memory setup menu, I think I remember something in there about image/file transfer. You may have to copy the image files to the unit then select the image in the display menu.

Yes, I believe it possible to transer the data across Bluetooth...But I doubt Kenwood has implemented any of these features. I would think they would start with the iPhone, and try to implement it's apps, you could convievably tether the iPhone to the Kenwwod, ~if~ the Kenwood had a browser....

Just a quick information (tomorrow I'll have to setup everything):
is it possible, with the 9240BT that natively decodes multi-channel audio, to manage a 4.1 surround sound without an additional amplifier? I mean: can the 4x50W internal amplifier manage a sort of 2x50W front and distinct 2x50W rear channels? (obviously with an active subwoofer)
Or I need to buy an external 4x multichannel amplifier?

Second: if I must buy an external amplifier, could I use both the internal amplifier for the 2 front channels and an external standard stereo/2X amplifier for the rear channels?
(I understand it's not the best option 'cos of different amplifier output sound qualities - maybe better choosing a quite similar Kenwood 2x ampli).

I am thinking of getting a 9140, and I have a tahoe with a stock navigation radio. Could I use the navigation antenna built-in to the vehicle for the Kenwood to avoid having to install the navigation antenna?

Also, I use bluetooth a lot, and a previous poster said the microphone was terrible and people couldn't hear him. Has anyone else had any experience with the bluetooth? I don't want to get it if the bluetooth is terrible.

Hello, in my haste to beat a rainstorm, I buttoned up the dash without grounding the Parking brake, does anyone know if this will cause problems.

Second, I attempted to change my splash screen, I hooked up my USB key fob with a JPEG (no folders on drive). The 9140 reconizes the USB Drive, but when I go into the setup menu to make the change, all the choices are greyed out and are un-selectable, does anyone know what I did wrong. I have been able to listen to my IPOD, enter Navigation locations and listen to music through the tuner. Any help you guys/gals can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You,

Vinnie
FJ Cruiser

Hold down SOURCE and VOL DOWN hit RESET while holding the buttons down, wait for reboot and VOILA ! Choose USB and the picture.

Is anyone having problems viewing jpg files on a usb drive? Mine are all grayed out for some reason, though I can play video & music from usb. Do viewable photos need to be in a certain resolution, or should I be able to view anything in the jpg format?

Also, why would I be restricted from dialing out on my phone through the hands free interface? I have my phonebook synced up, but when i select a person listed, or even try to dial a number directly, it does nothing. However, if I receive a call from my phone it comes through. I can also dial out on the phone itself and it picks up on the 9140, but I don't know why I can't dial out directly from it the unit.

Lastly, does anyone have problems with flaky voice recognition? I don't mean problems with it recognizing your voice (this seems fine, even in phone conversations), but sometimes it won't respond when I speak something, even though it beeps once as if it understood what I said. Example is sometimes when I search an artist list on the ipod, I say "page down", it beeps, but stays on the same page, or just exits voice recognition.

Is anyone having problems viewing jpg files on a usb drive? Mine are all grayed out for some reason, though I can play video & music from usb. Do viewable photos need to be in a certain resolution, or should I be able to view anything in the jpg format?

Also, why would I be restricted from dialing out on my phone through the hands free interface? I have my phonebook synced up, but when i select a person listed, or even try to dial a number directly, it does nothing. However, if I receive a call from my phone it comes through. I can also dial out on the phone itself and it picks up on the 9140, but I don't know why I can't dial out directly from it the unit.

Lastly, does anyone have problems with flaky voice recognition? I don't mean problems with it recognizing your voice (this seems fine, even in phone conversations), but sometimes it won't respond when I speak something, even though it beeps once as if it understood what I said. Example is sometimes when I search an artist list on the ipod, I say "page down", it beeps, but stays on the same page, or just exits voice recognition.

Once you select the name you have to hit the Green call button. I have an iPhone and expected it to call when I touched the name in the phonebook.

I am thinking of getting a 9140, and I have a tahoe with a stock navigation radio. Could I use the navigation antenna built-in to the vehicle for the Kenwood to avoid having to install the navigation antenna?

Also, I use bluetooth a lot, and a previous poster said the microphone was terrible and people couldn't hear him. Has anyone else had any experience with the bluetooth? I don't want to get it if the bluetooth is terrible.

Thanks,
T

I doubt you could use the antenna from the Tahoe, but that's really just a guess.

The Bluetooth problem I'm having is with the Microphone, and more specifically that I had it mounted on the A pillar. I have not had time to move it and try it again. So to be fair I would say my experience with the Bluetooth as 'incomplete'.

Once you select the name you have to hit the Green call button. I have an iPhone and expected it to call when I touched the name in the phonebook.

No idea on the voice recognition

I tried using the call button, but it still won't call out. It may be a problem with my phone, which is an HTC Touch Pro, as it seemed to work with my friends cheapo flip phone. It's also kinda disappointing that I can't use SMS.

In response to call quality with the microphone, I have it mounted to the A pillar in the upper left corner and it seems to work perfectly fine. The people on the other end of the phone said they have no problems hearing me, but the sound is really loud. I guess adjusting the mic volume should fix this.

I tried using the call button, but it still won't call out. It may be a problem with my phone, which is an HTC Touch Pro, as it seemed to work with my friends cheapo flip phone. It's also kinda disappointing that I can't use SMS.

In response to call quality with the microphone, I have it mounted to the A pillar in the upper left corner and it seems to work perfectly fine. The people on the other end of the phone said they have no problems hearing me, but the sound is really loud. I guess adjusting the mic volume should fix this.

I will move the mic and try again, I've turned the mic volume all the way up, checked the cable for kinks/damage, re-checked the plug at the back, and everyone says it sounds like a bad connection and they can't make out what I'm saying. And I have all 4 doors, the back cab floor and wall of my Tacoma sound deadened....this shouldn't be this bad....

I didn't want to post a new thread since my problem pertains to this system. My new Kenwood 9140 system installed by Car Toys four days ago with IPOD 301V Cable, SIRIUS and Rear Camera in my 2004 Nissan Titan 4x4 Crewcab. Everything is working fine except IPOD Videos. When my IPOD Video is connected it reads on the IPOD "KENWOOD USB Direct Control OK to disconnect. I have TV Out on my IPOD, the IPOD AV Interface setup reads IPOD and AV3 but both icons are greyed out and not accessible. I've been searching KenwoodForums with a few answers but all reponses haven't work. I'm beginning to wonder if Car Toys installed my IPOD Cable correctly because I can't watch videos. I'm searching TitanTalk and other forums trying to find solutions and even sent an email to Kenwood and now here. Overall, the Navigation, SIRIUS and listening to my IPOD is outstanding. I can touch the Album Art window when playing videos but get a Blue Screen that reads Parking Off. The top of that same screen shows IPOD Mode:FULL and AVOUT:AV-IN1 but its greyed out and icons not acessible. I even put a DVD movie in to see what would happen but get the same Blue screen. My IPOD firmware is up to date, anyone have any ideas what the problem might be why the videos won't display?

Thanks, I received a response from TitanTalk just now that its probably because the installer did a video lock and that the video will only work with the parking brake on. I have to check it and if the video does work with the parking brake on then its most likely back to Car Toys to have them change it. (Just tested with parking brake on but now have Blue Screen that reads no video signal, will call the installer.)

IPOD (through KCA-IP301V adaptor): when it works, it's perfect, but... a great amount of my previous iPod collection is not playing on the 9240. I can see the album art, the song timer starts, but... no sound. It's possible that the Kenwood is not compatible with some codecs, but I'm sure the some songs are very old mp3's, so... what problems? Moreover shouldn't the adaptor deliver to the Kenwood the already decoded song, in a way that even encripted/drm songs could be played?

NAV: I've correctly loaded through the SD card all the custom POI's for safety cameras (via www.SCDB.info), but I don't know how to see/use them. In my other Lexus NAV (the factory model) I can choose what POI's to show on the map: isn't it possible on the Kenwood? (just to see, for instance, the fuel stations or restaurants while I drive, without setting a POI destination).

I will move the mic and try again, I've turned the mic volume all the way up, checked the cable for kinks/damage, re-checked the plug at the back, and everyone says it sounds like a bad connection and they can't make out what I'm saying. And I have all 4 doors, the back cab floor and wall of my Tacoma sound deadened....this shouldn't be this bad....

I found that LOWERING the mic sound in the TEL SETUP to 3-4 gives better results strangely. You might try this out, i had problems, people were telling me i was cutting, couldn't ear me, alot of noise, bad reception, etc, lowered the sound to 3 and now it's ok...Go figure...

BOXXED, or anyone that knows. I was just wondering if your local installers found out anything more about hooking up xm and hd simultaneously with the KCA-S220A?

I wrote Kenwood about using the KCA-S220A multi-adapter and this is my question and their response:

Q: Hello. I recently purchased the dnx9140. I wanted to install hd radio and xm radio, but there seems to be only one plug. I was wondering if there was an adapter that would work like the kca-s220a switch. I understand it doesn't have the same plug, but is there a compatible adapter or something in the works? Also, would that also be the only way of adding a 6-CD changer as well? Thanks.

Thank you for contacting Kenwood USA Corporation. As an authorized agent for Kenwood, we are responding to your recent email inquiry.

A: There is no adapter for this unit to allow both of those at the same time, we do not have any information regarding a future product for this. Regarding the CD changers, there are no compatible changers for this radio.

Please feel free to contact us again with any additional questions.

So, it looks like we're out of luck if we want HD and XM/Sirius on the same HU. Go figure.

BOXXED, or anyone that knows. I was just wondering if your local installers found out anything more about hooking up xm and hd simultaneously with the KCA-S220A?

The local installer said they have used the kca on other radios. They wanted me to buy and see if they can make it work. I think it was like 80 bucks.. I dont want to buy the HD radio plus the KCA...Right now I just go with Sirius.

Here Kenwoods reply to my question regarding the KCA-S220A

This must be there standard reply: Thank you for contacting Kenwood USA Corporation. As an authorized agent for Kenwood, we are responding to your recent email inquiry.

We apologize in for the delay in contacting you, errors in your email address prevented us in contacting you in a timely manner (see below).

You will not be able to use the KCA-S220A with the DNX-9140. You will need to choose between the HD radio and the Satellite radio, you can use one or the other, not both.

6) I cannot get the microphone on the Bluetooth to work properly, everyone I call say they can't pick up what I am saying. My ambient noise is at a minimum (I have done almost the whole cab in second skin dampening). I have re-installed it and still no luck.

I purchased a DNX-5120 and the bluetooth outright sucks. It is NOT useable. Kenwood is sending me this unit as a replacement with the promise that the bluetooh will work better. Sadly, I know for a fact that is it the same firmware and same piece of junk hardware made by Parrot.

Just fair warning here folks... Kenwood does not support these units well at all. Development is done overseas and the folks here in the US are powerless to help. Most firmware updates don't address known bugs, but isntead add useless features or break already working features.

Bluetooth specific:

The "phone book" sync feature (in the rare case that it does work) is flawed from the ground up. It RESYNCS the ENTIRE phonebook, in/out call log after EACH call. The voice dialing feature (in the rare case that it works) is DISABLED during the resync. That means that anybody with more than 25 or so contacts on a Windows Mobile device will LOSE phonebook, call log and voice dialing capability for 3-10 minutes after EVER CALL and/or EVERY TIME the phone comes out of STANDBY/SLEEP mode.

The headunit IS NOT capable of "waking up" a bluetooth phone that has gone into power save (screen black) mode. So to DIAL you have to reach over and physicaly take the phone out of standby. Nonsense!

The VOICE dialing features of the phone are NEVER exposed. I would gladly take that crap over the broken Kenwood/Parrot crap.

BT Sound Quality:
These devices have the worst sound quality of ANY bluetooth device that I have ever worked with. I upgraded the electret MIC (about $5 from DigiKey) and it helped a lot, but the quality is still not acceptable. That means that the internal electronics (pre-amp and digital filtering) are complete crap. Parrot is OEM for the bluetooth. If you do a bit of research you will find that ALL of their products are crap, even though they have the biggest name in the industry.

DNX Other issues and nits (honestly too many to list but lets touch on a few):
A) The Clock is so freakin small that you need binoculars to read it. What moron decided on that part of the GUI
B) The station PRESETS for AM/FM/SAT DO NOT show the station call letters or numbers, and instead show "P1", "P2", "P3" etc. Good grief, this is 2009 and Kenwood can't write code to name the preset buttons dynamicaly with the station ident?
C) The sirius interface is a complete joke. Even passengers have a hard time finding and tuning stations. What moron wrote this part of the GUI? There is 5 times the screen realestate of a Sirius sportster and 1/5 the functionality.
D) Ditto for ever OTHER interface on the device except for the Garmin.. ohh wait, Garmin wrote that and it works!
E) The unit needs to be HARD RESET at least once a week to resolve BT lockups, sirius lockups, etc. Restoring the "saved memory" settings only restores SOME items. I have to reprogram the others, to the point that now I don't even bother.
F) EVERY HEAD UNIT OEM HAS GONE BACK TO VOLUME KNOBS... PEOPLE LIKE VOLUME KNOBS, NOT PUSH BUTTONS. What does Kenwood do? They take do the opposite and replace the KNOB with cumbersome BUTTONS to turn the volume up and down. What moron made this choice?

iPOD:
I have a 160GB classic that is FULL. To put it kindly, it is useless trying to operate it with the DNX.

Reality Check:
A) I can hop into any Ford, Chevy, VW, Infinity, Lexus, BMW or other OEM bluetooth enabled car and derive perfect bluetooth functionality from ANY of the phones I have owned. Most parties can not tell that I am on a handsfree BT in a card. I have YET to find ANY phone that works correctly with the Kenwood DNX units. Furthermore, the sound quality is atrocious.

B) The same phones (ALL OF THEM) work with ANY bluetooth headset I have tried.

I used to be a Kenwood car audio dealer (back in the 1990's) and purchased this unit instead of the AVIC or other similar units based on past experience with Kenwood. What a poor choice I made, it (the DNX-5120) is a $1500 hunk of unsupported crap except for the Garmin (which is of course awesome). After working with Kenwood to resolve my issues, I have become aware that ALL of the DNX units are pretty much the same hunks of crap, some with more cranks and whistles.

Let me say this again in case you missed it in my rant. The development folks are over seas and far out of touch with the American Consumer and the problems with these head units. After talking to the Kenwood corporate folks (very nice peope), it has become clear to me that these issues are NOT going to get resolved any time soon. These are $2000 boat anchors that will soon not even get firmware updates to fix the bugs OR enable new phones. Do YOU plan on keeping the same cell phone for 5 years? Most people don't. My unit is less than a year old and there has not been a firmware or BT updates since the first of the year. How many phones have been released since that time? The last BT updated (January) rolled up phones that are AT LEAST a year old if not TWO!